Henry v



H. v. VANDERBILT.

STEP LADDER.

N0.'480,2Z4. Patented Aug. 2, 1892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY V. VANDERBILT, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF ANDSADIE A. BUNNELL, OF SAME PLACE.

STEP-LADDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 480,224, dated August2, 1892. Application filed August 24, 1891. Serial No. 403,630. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY V. VANDERBILT, of the city of Brooklyn, in thecounty of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Step-Ladders, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact specification.

The object of my invention is to provide step-ladders having suchconstruction that they will be more firm and rigid than the commonstep-ladders in use and more substantial, both when opened for use andwhen closed; and to this end my invention consists of a step-ladderwherein the hinged legs are connected to one of the steps of the ladderby a jointed connection hinged in the center and hinged at one end tothe rear edge of the step and at the other in a recess formed in theedge of the cross-piece which connects the legs, which recess formsshoulders, which act as braces to the sides of the jointed connectionand protect the hinges and prevent lateral strain thereon when theladder is closed. A similar recess is formed in the rear edge of thestep to form shoulders, which prevent lateral deflection of the jointedconnection and protect the hinges when the ladder is opened, so thatwhether closed or opened the jointed connection is braced atits edges byfirm and rigid shoulders of the step and the cross-piece of the legs.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which like letters of reference indicate likeparts in all of the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved step-ladder, showing thesame open for use. Fig. 2 is a broken side elevation showing the sameclosed, and Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view taken on line a: as of Fig.1.

The body of the step-ladder is composed of the two side pieces A A,provided with steps BB (as many as desired) and joined at the top by thetop step or landing O.

Underneath the landing and connected to the rear edges of the sidepieces A is aback piece D, to which the two legs E E are secured byhinges a a. The legs are connected together opposite the step B by across-piece F, which is recessed in the the center, as shown atf, toform the shouldersf'f. In this recess and fitting the same is secured bya hinge g the rear section g of the centrally-jointed connection G,which connects the cross-piece F with the step B. The said jointedconnection is composed of the said section 9 and a duplicate section 9attached together end to end by the central hinge The section g isattached to the step B by a hinge g and the edges of the said step arerecessed, as shown, to form shoulders I) b to embrace the edges of thesaid section 9 when the ladder is open, as shown in Fig. 3. By thisconstruction any side strain on the jointed sections when the ladder isclosed will be largely taken by the shouldersf, and the hinge is therebyrelieved of strain, and when the ladder is opened any side strain on thelegs tending to deflect the jointed connection will likewise be resistedby the shoul- 7o ders Z; Z) of the step. Furthermore, by thus hingingthe ends of the jointed connection in recesses the ladder may be foldedmore compactly than would otherwise be possible.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A step ladder having its legs provided with a cross-piece recessed toform shoulders, combined with a jointed connection hinged at one end insaid recess to be embraced at its side edges by said shoulders andhinged at its opposite end to one of the steps of the ladder,substantially as described.

2. A step-ladder having its legs provided with a cross-piece and thebody of the ladder provided with a step parallel with said crosspieceand recessed in its rear edge to form shoulders, in combination with ajointed connection hinged at one end to said cross-piece and hinged atthe other to the step in said recess to be embraced at its side edges bysaid shoulders, substantially as described.

3. A step-ladder having its legs provided with a cross-piece centrallyrecessed to form 5 shoulders and a step parallel with said crosspieceand centrally recessed at its rear edge to form shoulders, incombination with a jointed connection hinged at one end to thecross-piece in the recess therein and hinged [co at the other end to thestep in the recess formed therein, substantially as described.

HENRY V. VANDERBILT.

Witnesses:

Mrs. S. A. BUNNELL, W. H. TYLER.

